Keeping it Relevant!

Taught by Arlene S.
Notes by Linda G.

Today we began our study of the book of Nehemiah. Arlene gave us a short review of the events that led up to this period in the history of the nation of Israel. King Solomon had been given the promise by God that if he followed the Lord’s ways that his family would rule Israel forever and enjoy the Lord’s blessing. Instead of following God’s ways Solomon, in his pride, lived the later period of his life contrary to the commands of the Lord. As the Lord foretold, this resulted in the eventual division of the Kingdom of Israel. The Northern Kingdom was taken captive by the Assyrians. The Southern Kingdom was taken captive to Babylon. The focus of the book of Ezra was the return of the southern kingdom from Babylon to Israel. In the book of Ezra, the first two waves of captives returned. The first wave returned with Zerubbabel and rebuilt the temple. The second wave returned with Ezra who brought spiritual reformation. In Nehemiah we will see the third wave return.

Prior to delving into the book itself, Arlene gave us some spiritual principles that would help us to better relate to what we would be studying. She asked us a profound question – “What is your purpose?”. Many of us, myself included, tend to think of our purpose as what we do. Arlene countered this believe with an excerpt from the Westminster Shorter Catechism (question 1). “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” She proposed to us that Satan can keep us so distracted with deciding what it is we should do that we become immobilized and as a result do nothing.

Arlene gave us two scriptures that speak of this very thing: “In Him we were also chosen, have been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:11) and 1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”.

A key word regarding our purpose is ‘glory/glorify’. In the Greek, glory comes from the word ‘doxa’. This mean glory, honor, wealth, and splendor – to think, imagine, consider or appear. The question Arlene asked us is if we are living our lives in such a way that we glorify God, regardless of what we are doing. Do we make God recognizable to the world around us? She stressed that we need to leave what is comfortable to be able to do this….we need to take risks. This is how God is magnified and glorified in our lives. This brings us to the study of the man, Nehemiah. We will see that he was a man that took risks. As he did this he made God recognizable.

In Nehemiah 1:1 we see that Nehemiah lived in Susa. This was a winter resort of the Persian kings. Arlene pointed out that we, like Nehemiah, live in a fallen world. In the New Testament God instructs us how we should be living in this world. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever “ (1 John 2:15-17). The word for ‘world’ in the Greek is ‘Kosmos’. This word relates to our world systems, the physical and material nature of our world as opposed to what is spiritual and exalted in the eyes of the Lord. Arlene asked the class for some examples of this. A few of the responses are as follows: entitlement based on birth or material success, self-indulgence, self-reliance, or a view of worth based on physical perfection. We, as Christians, need to be wary of falling into this mindset which is a trap of Satan.

We see in verse 2 that the captives have, in fact, have been freed and have returned from their captivity. Going back to the book of Ezra, Arlene reminded us that the Israelites had been given permission to return to their land and rebuild their temple. They had begun to rebuild the wall and were met with opposition. We see in Nehemiah 1:3 “They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire’."

Arlene showed us how this can be paralleled in our own lives. We have been freed from the power of sin because Jesus died to set us free yet we can also fall into captivity by the enemy. Because there was no wall around Jerusalem the people were ‘in great trouble and disgrace’ (Neh 1:3a). We don’t know exactly why they were feeling shame but we can fall into shame as well. Arlene gave us two ways in which this can happen:

1) We can have shame before God because of sins we have committed. In the Old Testament when Adam and Eve sinned, God gave them animal skins to cover their nakedness. In the New Testament Jesus has made provision for our sin. When we go to Him with a repentant heart, agreeing with Him over our sin “he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9b). We then need to receive His forgiveness and move on.

2) When we are sinned against shame can also be the result. This is often seen in victims of abuse. They feel an overwhelming sense of shame and that they are to blame when anything goes wrong. Satan will use other people to bring about his ends. The Israelites had been rebuilding their walls yet they stopped, perhaps because of the attack against them by their enemies. The enemy will attack us as well and we too may be immobilized. Some of the ways in which this could happen are: feelings of unworthiness, fear, lack of confidence, rejection, insecurity, unbelief and criticism. Arlene emphasized that Satan will find our weak spots and use them against us.

In the Old Testament the physical temple was protected by physical walls. In the New Testament we are the physical temple of the Holy Spirit. The Lord has equipped us to protect our temple with the armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-18). God has also given us a powerful weapon – the sword of the Spirit. “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Eph 6:16-17).

We will see in the book of Nehemiah how vigilant he was in fighting his enemies. We need to have the same vigilance as we fight our enemy. Arlene reminded us that attacks WILL come and we need to be prepared for them. This closely parallels what we are going through as a church body at MWC. We are moving into a new ‘land’ by building a new church. This is not something that the enemy will rejoice in. We need to be equipped for the spiritual battle. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). A way we can be prepared is by committing God’s Word to our memories. (Within our Tuesday morning group, many of the women will be joining together on a quest to hide God’s Word in our hearts. This is something that we will also offer on the blog, for those of you who follow us here. In the next week or so, there will be a separate post that will give more details. We hope you join us!!!)

Arlene then moved on to give us a picture of the man Nehemiah. In the later half of chapter 1 we learn much about the type of man he was. There are four aspects of his personality that Arlene taught about that have relevance to our lives today.

1) We see that Nehemiah was connected to his people. “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” (Neh. 1:4). God is glorified when we are unified. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:20-23). The enemy will try to create disunity in some of the following ways: gossip, jealousy, envy, lack of communication, self-righteousness, and even by creating problems.

2) Nehemiah also knew God and His word. Arlene showed us the evidence that Nehemiah was a man who knew the personality of the Lord. “Then I said: "O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands” (Neh 1:5). Sometimes we may not know the mind of the Lord when we pray but we can know the heart of the Lord. We know the Lord is compassionate, loving, faithful, merciful, and forgiving. We can surely pray for these things. Nehemiah knew God’s promises. We see the evidence of this as he prayed. Nehemiah knew God’s practices (see Neh 1:10-11). Many times Nehemiah refers to the Lord’s ‘servants’. He knew that God could, and very often would, use the person praying (His servants) to be a part of the answer to that prayer. Nehemiah also knew that he would need the favor of the Lord in making the request of the king because this was the very king who had halted the building of the wall in the first place. Nehemiah shows us that sometimes we need to step out in faith.

3) Arlene also taught that Nehemiah was an overcomer. In verse 11, it tells us that he was cupbearer to the king. Traditionally, for a man to serve is such close proximity to the king (and thus his harem) he was made a eunuch. As written in Deuteronomy (Deu 23:1) , such a man was forbidden to enter the assembly of the Lord. Nehemiah would have had to overcome much to have the boldness to act as he did. This is something we may see in our own lives. Arlene asked us to think about things from our past that may keep us from stepping out in faith. Nehemiah was a man who followed God, not what other people thought of him. Arlene also reminded us that there will be many new people coming in when we move to our new location. She recounted how loved and embraced she felt at MWC when she came in as an outsider. We want to demonstrate this same love for those who may have overcome much in order to have the courage to walk through the doors.

4) Arlene showed us that Nehemiah was a patient man. At the end of chapter 1 Nehemiah is interceding on behalf of his people to the Lord. The opportunity for Nehemiah to speak to the king comes in chapter 2. This was a period of four months. She gave us a ‘SAT’ type analogy to emphasize this point. Martha was to Mary as Nehemiah was to Ezra. Nehemiah was a man of action, like Martha. She also showed us that there are two types of patience described in the bible; one is patience with circumstances the other is patience with people. Nehemiah waited patiently while God worked in the heart of the king and the political climate of the times. Politically things changed so that it was to the Babylonian king’s interest to have Jerusalem fortified. This is a good reminder to us as well. The Lord is as able to change political climates now as He had been in the past.

In concluding, Arlene asked us once again “What is your purpose?” The answer she gave was “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecc 9:10a). Nehemiah magnified and glorified in all that he did. We want to do the same!